Paradise of Light and Shadow
by MiniatureAzn
Summary: Rin was separated from Len at birth to be the next Diva. Several years later, Len reaches the age where he is old enough to take his own risks and goes off to search for his sister whom he'd only met in his dreams. Along the way, he meets; Meiko, Gakupo and Kaito. All unrelated, but fights for the same purpose. With this; Synchronicity is born. [ Sequel ] [ IN HIATUS ]
1. Chapter 1

**Ladies and Gentlemen,**

**I bring you the first chapter of the second part of Synchronicity.**

_**Paradise of Light and Shadow.**_

**Enjoy~ **

**( Don't forget to leave a review, favorite and follow. ;D )**

* * *

**_Chapter 1: A Stranger_**

The clock hit 9 o'clock and the kingdom was, once again, bustling with liveliness. There were children playing, the markets from yesterday continued to shout at the passing people complimenting their goods and old women complaining about their husbands and how their children have no limits to their energy.

_'Is it always like this everyday?'_ Len thought, amazed by the energetic atmosphere around him that was almost as lively as the day when he had just arrived.

"Freshly picked oranges and bananas! I'm dropping the price to 3 pence today, it's a great offer! Buy yourself some while the price is low!" A costermonger was shouting to the public from his stall, suddenly, people were starting to approach the stall. A crowd formed surrounding the stall. 'Should I buy some too then?' Len ran after the stall without any second thoughts. After that, more and more people headed towards the stall.

Len fought hard to squeeze into the crowd, it was a long battle, but he eventually managed to get into the front line. The costermonger laughed at him, "Ahahaha! Young man, I admire your determination! Thus coming this far, what would you like to buy, eh? I'll lower it to 2 pence for you." Len sweat-dropped, rubbing his slightly bruised arm.

_'Violent crowd..'_ Len thought.

"Ah thanks.. I'd like to buy an orange and 2 bananas." Len handed the man the money, and put them in his pocket. He handed Len a bag with an orange and 2 bananas. Len bowed as the man waved goodbye and returning to the customers.

He took a banana from the bag and happily peeled it._ 'I should sit down and eat my snacks somewhere quiet..'_ Len searched for a place where he could eat his snacks peacefully. In almost every corner of the kingdom, there would be homeless families. Len admired them, because even though they were going through such hardships in life, all of them managed to smile. It made him even more fired up on striving to complete his goal, to fulfill his purpose for coming to the kingdom.

At last, Len found a bench beside a tree. _ 'Lucky! A shade.'_ He grinned to himself. There was already someone else sitting on the bench, but he didn't care, there was room for two anyways. Len made his way towards the bench and sat down at the far end. He continued to eat his half-eaten banana.

"You.." The stranger beside him began to talk. Len looked around to see if there were any other people around them that he might have been talking to.

"I'm talking to you." This time, the stranger directed his gaze towards Len. He wore a hood over his head, but Len could tell he had black hair.

"Me?" Len pointed at himself with a surprised look. He eyed the stranger in front of him and noticed that he had citrine-colored eyes. Almost like the color the innkeeper had. Kagene Rui, was it?

"Yes you." The stranger slowly took off his hood that blocked his face revealing a familiar look.

"Kagene.. Rui?" Len stuttered. Were his eyes playing tricks on him? As far as he remembered, Kagene Rui was a little girl that wore black dresses, but the 'stranger' he was looking at right now was like looking at a mirror.

"Don't panic. Rui is my twin sister that helps me run an inn our mother left us. I'm Kagene Rei. You and I just happened to look alike." Len let out a sigh of relief.

"..I can sense it from you." Rei's tone of voice was serious this time, his eyes were still directed towards Len, which made him a bit uncomfortable.

"Sense what?" He asked with a puzzled-face.

"I have the ability to see the potential that lies within others. And yours is telling me.. something quite extraordinary." Rei narrowed his eyes at Len, observing him like he was some kind of being that wasn't originally from this world.

"And what is this 'extraordinary' potential you see in me?" Len replied with a sarcastic tone of voice as he continued to eat his banana.

"It's telling me that you, are the first born male in history, to ever grasp the power of a Diva. My intuitions has never wronged me. I'm quite shocked myself." Len's jaw dropped, his hand lost all its energy to hold the banana and dropping it.

"Wait, no, that can't be right. How am I supposed to believe that? My sister was the one who was chosen." Although Len despised bringing up topics about his sister in conversations, he figured that this one would be exceptional.

"I see.. they took your sister away without viewing her potential as a Diva, because clearly, both of you were to take the role because each of you have half of the ability to become the Diva. But since a Diva is required to be a female, your sister was taken to play the role alone."

_'Potential as a Diva..? Then that means Rin was..' _

"It must be hard for you to process the whole concept of this at the moment, not to mention that you've been living your whole life viewing the situation differently." Rei added.

"If.. what if she doesn't have the potential.. there would be consequences, wouldn't there?" Len noticed Rei's expression turn dark.

"Well.. yes. That is true. Consequences are to be expected. The reason the castle has announced another Diva selection rather early is because they know that the current Diva, who is likely to be your sister. Because she only has 'part' of the ability to become the Diva, she cannot fulfil her role without consequences because you have the other half. Therefore.. she uses her own life force to keep the dragon in its slumber."

**Silence.**

"That means.." Len's eyes widened, his hands trembled. Rei noticed his reaction and felt pity towards the fellow. As much as Rei wanted to make it seem less 'dangerous', it would still count as a lie, a white lie.

"..It means that she's bound to reach her limit sooner or later."

...

Len knew where this was going..

...

"..She's _dying_."

_'He's lying.'_ Len said to himself. He tried hard to convince himself that all of the things this guy was saying.. was all a lie. But then again, who in the right mind would lie about something like this? Len didn't know who to believe anymore. His own conscience or this stranger whom he had just met? What if he was only shutting himself away from reality because it was something he couldn't handle, something he could never accept? He was frustrated.

"I'm not lying."

Len looked back at Rei with disbelief. "But how am I supposed to..?"

"How are you supposed to believe me? A stranger whom you have only met? I know, I can feel your frustration, it's obvious that you think I'm lying. You came here, specifically to save her, yes?"

Len nodded in response. Rei stood up from the bench and turned to Len.

"If you're willing to come with me, I will discuss with you more information about the cycle and how the castle operates." Rei smiled at Len, although he was still uncertain, it was the only way to make sure, and to discover the truth behind what the castle was planning for the future. But what Len was most worried about was the fact that a stranger had suddenly, out of nowhere, offered to help him for no reason at all.

Who_ is_ Kagene Rei?

* * *

The bartender approached Rei ready to take his order. "Do you, gentlemen, want anything?" He asked while he dried beer mugs using a tea towel. "Yes, I'll have cider and a.." Rei turned to Len. "Do you want anything? My treat."

"It's alright. I'm not that thirsty." Len answered with a bit of a sheepish tone.

"Alright then, make that two ciders." Rei ordered to the bartender. "Wait- what? I already said that it's-" Rei stopped his hand right in front of Len's face, making him quiet.

"Anything else?" The bartender added. "Nothing else. Just two ciders." Rei replied. With that, the bartender turned to the shelves behind him that displayed a variety of beer and wine, pouring a bottle of cider into two glass mugs.

"Thanks.." Len managed to get out of his mouth. Even though Rei practically ordered him a glass of cider by force, he still needed to express gratitude towards his 'generosity'.

"So.. before we start discussing things, I haven't caught your name yet."

"Kagamine Len." Len's voice was sturdy and stiff.

"And I'm guessing you've had a.. tragic past involving the draconic cycle?"

...

"Tragic wouldn't even describe it.." Len clenched his fists tightly, his muscles slowly became tense.

"Ah.. I must apologize. It's rude of me to ask you about personal experiences so straightforwardly. I didn't mean to offend you." The bartender placed a mug each, beside both of them. Rei bowed to him. "Thank you." Then handed the bartender the money and walked away to serve other customers. Rei cleared his throat, prepared to move onto another subject.

"Moving onto what we came here to discuss. You know about the system of the kingdom right? Surely you would have gathered information about this place and the castle's system before you came here."

_'Thank the heavens that he decided to move onto another topic.. I can't control my anger when people ask me about.. that.'_ Len thought.

"Not quite. I came here by impulse." Rei's eyes widened with disbelief. How could someone be planning on starting a revolution without a plan? This had to be some kind of joke.

"I understand that it's foolish. I've recently reached an age where I have the freedom to venture out to different places. I came here to look for my sister, the current Diva. That's all I've been training myself for, my whole life." Len felt ashamed, now that he's noticed the huge gap in his plans, even though it was obvious. He didn't have a plan. What would happen to him if he just barged into the castle without having any strategies?

"I can kind of understand how you feel. Of course you would feel that way, considering the fact that you've waited for this chance your whole life." Rei took the handle of the mug and began to drink. Len did the same, he forgot about the cider.

Rei continued to talk as he put his half-full mug down on the counter.

"Long ago, when a human and the dragon made a deal, not only to save the kingdom from harm, but also the entire world. Think about it, that dragon covered this whole kingdom in a sea of fire in one night. Imagine the world caught on fire in just a week. Because of the dragon's impact, the whole kingdom was influenced, thus making our main religion Dragonism. I'm sure that you already know about the deal, yes?"

Len nodded in response, though he was trying to catch up with all this knowledge about the kingdom. He just wanted to get straight to the point about the castle.

"Straight to the point about the castle and the main source of the cycle." Rei continued.

_'It's like he can read my mind..'_ Len thought to himself as he narrowed his eyes slightly at the person in front of him.

"The person that's leading the new cycle is the descendant of the past priest. She's the first female priest to lead the cycle, so it's a big event. Her name is Megurine Luka, she's a noble as well as a priestess. The security around the castle is tight, so it might be a bit hard for you." Rei added, taking another gulp of his cider.

"I expected that.." Len sighed.

"When do you plan to make your move? Tonight?" Rei asked after drinking the last drop of cider from the mug.

"No.. tomorrow afternoon. I have to study the castle's shortcuts, and the positions of the guards. But.. I've been wondering.."

"Why I'm suddenly helping you?" Len stared blankly at Rei. He seemed to always know what he was about to say next. He was startled when Rei started to chuckle.

"Well.. you see. My sister and I used to have a younger sister named Rue. Unfortunately, she was also taken from us since her birth. It traumatized both of us, since Rui was a bit more attached to her compared to me, it practically wrecked her, even now. I couldn't do anything because I was a coward, but you, you're different from me."

"You have a chance."

That one sentence, gave Len hope. It brightened everything. His whole word.

_A chance._

_'He experienced the same thing..'_ Len thought.

"It's getting dark. Finish off your cider and I'll let you stay for free in our inn for the night. You want the cycle to end as much as I do, so this is the least I could do." Rei smiled at Len. He obviously couldn't say no to the offer because then, he couldn't just sleep on the streets when the temperature was freezing during the night. With one last gulp, Len finished his cider and stood up from the seat following Rei out of the bar.

* * *

The sound of light footsteps and a dangling anklet echoed throughout the cave.

The dragon has awakened.

Rin slowly took steps towards the dragon's direction. Facing the front, fearless. No maiden would be dauntless enough to face such a creature and sing to it without a trembling voice. Every second, their fate would be hanging onto an old rope, reading to snap any moment.

But Rin was different.

Unlike normal young girls, they grew up in a loving environment surrounded by their families, while Rin, on the other hand, grew up with the dragon that once set fire on a whole kingdom. At first, she was terrified of it, because of how it looked. The scales, the spikes, the wings.. everything about it was.. horrifying. But Rin for one, compared to the previous Divas, managed to befriend this dragon. Soon enough, the dragon grew quite fond of her too.

Rin continued to make her way towards the dragon, the fear she felt towards the beast from back then, had faded and turned into attachment. She stopped about four feet away from the beast, and faced the dragon with a determined expression.

_'Protect..'_ Rin mumbled to herself as she clutched her necklace and looked at it, sadness filled her eyes. Although the necklace was a reminder of her deep longing to cross paths with her brother, it gave her something more.

The undying will to **live**.

Not only for the sake of others, but for the sake of her brother as well.

She looked up to see the dragon, patiently waiting for her performance. She faced him with strong expression as he began to dance beneath the withering light that poked between the cracks of the cave. That small spotlight provided her the feeling of connection with him.


	2. Chapter 2: Tragodia

**READ!**

The Prologue of this story is - **The Sky Where I Look for You**. This is a songfic based on how I interpret the Sychronicity series, the plot will remain the same but there _will _be twists in the story and a few UTAUloids appearing every now and then. I threw on a few characters that weren't shown in the original series to make him a bit more interesting and to help the story drag a bit since I hate quickly going straight to the point.

The story will change a bit but the plot and the characters remain as they were in the original series.

Also, in case you're confused about the chapter title; **_Tragodia, is a Greek term for 'tragedy'. _**

* * *

**_Chapter 2: Tragodia_**

A young maiden elegantly dances around the cavern with a shawl made of silk wrapped around her arms. Dancing pliantly with such dedication and gentleness, she begins to sing.

Her unwavering devotion to the Draconic faith. she continues to sing, not knowing anything else but the creed she was forced to believe. Spending her whole life endlessly reciting chants and prayers. A song for the Sun, a song for the Rain, and a gentle requiem.

Pitiful damsel, she is. Patiently waiting. At the end of the road to artificial paradise, she continues to reach for the warm hands that were offered to her.

* * *

"Once again, I must thank you for letting me stay for the night. I owe you a lot."

"This is only something small compared to what you're about to do."

Len bowed to a smiling Rei before entering his room. Rei turned back and made his way towards the lobby. His footsteps made the floorboards produce creaking sounds. _'Once I earn enough money, I'll have this inn renovated.'_ Rei thought to himself. When he arrived at the lobby, he saw Rui drinking tea on the counter, her eyes showed no emotion. Rei noticed that there was another cup on the counter._ 'How thoughtful..'_ He smiled to himself before approaching the emotionless maiden.

"Rui." The girl's head instantly looked up to see her brother smiling at her. Her facial expression remained the same, cold and emotionless. Even towards her brother, even after all these years after- "Brother.. tea.. is getting cold." Her voice was small and delicate, she gestured her hands towards the tea. Rei carefully picked up the handle of the cup and took a sip. "Thank you."

"Brother.. why is that stranger.. staying here for no expense?" She stared blankly at her brother.

"Hmm.. What can I say? I guess I'm indebted to him in a way?" He chuckled at the confused Rui. "Well.. I'm going to bed first. Don't stay up too late, okay?" Rui nodded back to him as he began to climb up the stairs to his room.

Rei stopped before twisting the knob to his room, he took a deep breath and went in. His room looked gloomy, with only the light of the warm fireplace across the room. An untidy single bed, and a small dusty bookshelf. He let out a tired sigh, made his way over to his bed and lied down. He spread his arms across the bed and turned his head to the side._ 'Father.. Mother.. Rue.. If you're watching over us right now, I just want to let you both know that we still miss you.. The love that both, Rui and I, received from you will forever be engraved within our memories.'_

He sat up and looked at the picture frame standing on top of the dresser beside his bed. It was a drawn picture of his family.

He smiled at the thought of his childhood when he, Rui and Rue always came running back home to their mother's delicious cooking. Their father would always lift each of them up high in the air, smiling.

They were happy and content.

Until the day of the selection came.

* * *

**§**

**10 years ago..**

"Rui! Rue! Guess what I found!" Rei had his hands cupped together, trapping a small grasshopper he found leaping around the field. "What is it?" Rui eyed his hands suspiciously. "What is it?!" Rue held onto Rui's arm startling her a bit. Blanking staring ahead. She was blind.

"You have to guess first!" He smiled at the two.

"Hmmm.." Rui looked at his hands. "Is it.. a beetle?"

"Wrong." Rei grinned.

"At least give us a clue!" Rui puffed her cheeks.

"Alright, it's a small green insect that can jump really high."

"Ah! I got it! Is it a grasshopper? Although I've never really seen one. Papa told me about it." Rue exclaimed. He smiled. "Correct."

"Here, I'll let you hold it.." He opened his hands revealing a small grasshopper. It leapt onto Rui's skirt and squealed. Rue began to giggle as Rei chased the squealing Rui, desperately trying to capture the grasshopper. "Calm down, Rui! We'll get it off of you, okay? Stay still!"

"Best of luck to you, brother!" Rue chuckled from afar.

The grasshopper separated itself from Rui's skirt and landed on the ground and camouflaged itself with the soft and brightly-colored grass. Rei let out a sigh of relief while Rui sat on the grass. "Thank goodness.. I thought we would be running around the field forever."

"It's getting dark, we should probably go home now." Rui stood up from the ground and dusted herself off. Rei looked at the sky. "You're right.. Let's go home."

"Rue! Let's go home for today! It's getting dark." Rui shouted from across the field.

"She looks worn out.." Rei ran after Rue and carried her on his back, then ran back to Rui.

They both smiled at each other and made their way back home.

* * *

"Mother! Father! We're home!" Rei and Rui shouted simultaneously as she closed the door behind her. There were no replies, both of them heard voices from the living room and decided to investigate.

They walked along the hallways and peeked beside the frame of the doorway.

"This is absurd! She has an illness! Rue can't possibly-!" The father, Leo, protested.

"Whether or not she has an illness does not change the fact that she was born with the ability." A man in a black robe answered back. He was sitting on the sofa with a man in a white robe and a soldier.

"You don't understand! You-!" The mother, Kiraia, cried. She was cut off by the sound of a sniffling child, she turned her attention to her children, who were hiding behind the frame of the doorway.

"M-mother? What's happening?" Rui began to form tears in her eyes. Rei gasped. "Rui, I told you to stay quiet!"

"But.. they were arguing.." Rui added, rubbing the tears from her eyes.

The whole room's attention was now drawn to the children. Rei noticed his that his mother was now trembling, and the look on his father's face were horrified. Rei began to have the same look on his face too when he saw Leon mouthing something to him. It took him only a short matter of time until he figured out what his father said.

_**Run.**_

Everything seemed to have stopped. The colors in everything faded into black and white. His breathing stopped.

Without even giving any second thought, he grabbed Rui's hands and ran for the door. The men in the robes quickly stood up from their seat, before they could walk, Leon had already grabbed the man in the black robe and gripped both of his hands together behind his back. "How dare you! Guard!"

As soon as Rei got out of the house with Rue sleeping soundly on his back, dragging Rui along who was still crying. He could hear loud yelling and screams of pain coming from the house, glass shattering and cursing. Rei tried hard not to look back, he continued to run, he didn't know where, it didn't matter. He just needed to run away, far from the house.

Rui suddenly stopped running and glared at her brother. "What are you doing Rui, we need to ru-!"

"Rei! We need to help them!"

"We can't go back there! They're going to take Rue away!"

"Why?!"

"I'm not sure myself. But father.. he told me to run.. so without thinking, I grabbed your hand and went for the door."

Hearing this, Rui felt her knees drop to ground. "Rui! What's wrong? Are you feeling ill?" Rei bent down beside her to hug her as she began to sob and wail loudly.

"Everything.. everything will be alright. Everything.." He smiled to himself.

"Everything will be alright."

_What a __**lie.**_

Slowly, his smile turned into a frown. Before he knew it, all the strength to hold himself up washed away. He soon found himself kneeling on the ground. Rei bit his lower lip, and looked up at the sky. He knew. He knew that if he started, it wouldn't stop. Suddenly, he remembered something that father always used to say to him whenever he fought with Rui and hid himself away afterwards isolating himself from the rest of the family because he didn't want anyone to see him being 'unmanly'. His father would always find him and tell him,

_"What's the point in holding back the tears when its the same as bottling them up and keeping them inside? Nowadays, it may seem manly, to have a huge amount of strength, or to not having the need or want to cry. But a real man. That's different."_

_He smiled at Rei who continued to hold back his tears._

_"It takes a real man to allow himself to express his emotions. A real man would realize, that crying, is just another part of the human experience."_

After a good cry, they let go, stood up from the ground and gave each other sad smiles. "We will get through this. I'm sure mother and father will fetch us soon." Rui grinned, but Rei returned a sad smile. Although he was young, he very well knew what happened in the house after they ran out.

"I'm sure they will." A voice behind Rei continued to talk. "Well.. I'm sure she will." It chuckled.

Rei turned around gripping her sleeping sister's hands. It was the man in the black robe from before. With his two henchmen. "She's sleeping soundly, isn't she? Not waking up even after all that." Rei's eyes widened; fear slowly taking over his conscience. "I apologize, young man. But we will have to take your sister with us to the palace. She's the new special Diva." The man grinned. Rei's grip on her sister began to loosen. Rui noticed this and knew what he was about to do.

"Brother.. no.. You can't! We have to run away now or-!" Rui yelped as the soldier covered her mouth with his hands. Hopelessly trying to wriggle herself out of his clutches.

Fear took over him completely. Rui could tell that he was trembling. He wouldn't do it.. would he?

"Come on, lad. You'll do the kingdom good if you hand her over." The man continued to grin at Rei.

His grip loosened, he was shaking. He took Rue's hand, and carrying her. Swallowing painfully, he took his first step towards the man in the black robe.

"Good boy."

Rui managed to bite the hand of the soldier. "Re-!" ...No use. Everything was useless. The reason to live became useless. The whole existence of mankind. Useless.

Rei continued to take slow steps towards the man who had his arms opened wide. He carried his little sister, who was still unaware of the situation.

_'This is it..'_

Rei took one final step towards the man and handed over their pitiful little sister.

_The sound of glass shattering.._

Rui stopped struggling, and her eyes became emotionless. Not showing fear, sadness, not even shedding a single teardrop.

...

_'Everyone should just die.'_

_'She didn't do anything.'_

_'She was an innocent.. loving.. clumsy..'_

Rui began to have flashbacks of all the memories she had with her brother and her little sister. Those bitter moments, those sweet moments, flashed before her eyes.

_'..little sister.'_

"Let us head to the palace. We have spent too much time already." The man in the black robe gestured to the soldier, and the soldier nodded, following after him and the man in the white robe.

Rei was already on his knees, staring at the ground. Covering his face with his hands; shaking, trembling and scared. He managed to look up above him, seeing the empty sky. Not one star.

He wailed loudly, letting all of his grievance out, laying his lifeless arms beside him while Rui continued to stare blankly at her kneeling brother.

_'What am I supposed to do now, father?'_

"..ster." Rui mumbled quietly.

Rei sniffled, wiping his tear-stained cheeks and turning around to see his sister. "What?"

"**Monster**."

**§**

_After that night, both of them ignored each other. They returned home finding blood shed everywhere. Blood-stained curtains, carpets and paintings. They found their mother alive. Mourning over her lover's dead body. After that traumatic experience, she refused to eat, drink or sleep. The inn she had recently built hadn't been touched. Not once. The smiles they all shared, the memories, and happiness, crumbled within a day._

_A few years after Rue was taken away, they received a letter involving her __**death.**_

_Her illness had taken over her whole body at a young age, and a new Diva was immediately selected soon after that to atone for the remaining years she expected to live to fulfill the role. Mentioning about a young noble somehow avoiding her fate as a selected Diva by having her friend volunteer for her; Kasane Teto._

_The world isn't fair._

* * *

Rei carefully put the picture frame back down on the dresser and laid back down on the bed. Covering his eyes with the sleeve of his top and gritting his teeth.

_'I couldn't do anything..'_

No.

_'Instead.. I didn't do anything.'_

**I'm a coward.**

_'Kagamine Len, I will continue to look forward to the day when you end this ridiculous cycle and free the people from this illusion.' _


End file.
